Hold Congress Accountable

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As Congress approaches the debt ceiling debate, conservatives in both chambers should look for outside-the-box approaches to address federal spending. It's simply not enough to make cuts to nondefense discretionary spending, which, over the next ten years, represents less than 13 percent of all federal outlays. Mandatory spending, or direct spending, however, represents nearly 65 percent of outlays and is what is largely driving deficits higher.

FreedomWorks today echoed the position of the House Freedom Caucus on raising the debt ceiling and called on Congress to address federal spending and the budget deficit, which is projected to exceed $9.4 trillion over the next ten years.

As part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 that was enacted in November of that year, the debt ceiling was suspended until March 15, 2017. As of March 16, 2017, the debt ceiling is now back in place, requiring Congress to take action to raise it by some time in Fall (likely October or November).

FreedomWorks is happy to announce that the Debt Limit Control and Accountability Act, H.R. 1529, introduced by Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) was selected as the Bill of the Month for May. The bill is co-sponsored by House Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee. It would put spending restrictions in place to hold our government accountable regarding financial decisions.

The debt ceiling has been a source of contention between the legislative branch and the executive branch for years. As president, Donald Trump will have to work with Congress to raise or suspend the debt ceiling, which will be reached this summer because of the irresponsible spending and policies of presidents and Congresses past. With Trump as president, and Republicans controlling both the House and Senate, the opportunity exists to advance a conservative agenda while increasing the debt ceiling.

As one of over 6.9 million FreedomWorks activists nationwide, I urge you to call your representative and senators and demand that they vote against the disastrous “Bipartisan Budget Act”. Because this bill not only spends well in excess of the budget caps but also suspends the debt ceiling without any major spending reforms, this vote will be weighted double on our Online Congressional Scorecard.

Tick-tock, the debt ceiling deadline is fast approaching, leading, as ever, to the fevered warnings of default from the advocates of endless spending in and around the Beltway. It can't be said often enough: default on the national debt isn't going to happen. In fact, it's all but impossible.

With Paul Ryan still sitting squarely on the fence about whether or not he will run for Speaker of the House, the Republican leadership elections still remain largely up in the air. There has so far been a troubling inability of the conference to identify a suitable candidate who embodies the values that are important to an open congressional process, and who could garner enough support to actually win the election.

As one of our more than 6.9 million FreedomWorks activists nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative today and ask him or her to support Representative Tom McClintock’s Default Prevention Act, H.R. 692. This simple, common-sense piece of legislation would remove any possibility of defaulting on our national debt in the event that we reach our statutory debt limit.